Recognising his personal merits in the
democratisation of Taiwan, the worldwide union of liberal
parties, the "Liberal International", decided
to award Taiwan's President Chen Shui-pien the "Prize
for Freedom" for the year 2001.

At the same time, this prize honours the
peaceful struggle of the Taiwanese for democracy and a
self-determined future.

President Chen was supposed to receive
the prize personally during the annual congress of the
Liberal International to be held in Copenhagen in
November 2001. Due to the Chinese policy of international
isolation of Taiwan, that has been embraced by the EU, it
was planned that President Chen would travel to
Copenhagen in his own private capacity.

However, the motion brought forward in
Parliament by the Danish member party of the Liberal
International, to grant President Chen a visa for this
purpose, was rejected.

As an alternative the European Parliament
in Strasbourg extended an invitation to hold the prize
awarding ceremony there, but again also the French
government denied President Chen a visa. This means a
serious affront on the European Parliament, that has an
exterritorial status and whose guests have so far always
been granted a visa from the French authorities.

Eventually, the President's wife Wu Shu-chen,
who is confined to the wheelchair since an attempt on her
life that occurred during the period of military
dictatorship, was granted a visa for the period after
November 8th, after Hu Jintao, the prospective successor
of China's president Jiang Zemin, completed his visit to
Europe. On November 14th, representing her husband and
accompanied by a small delegation, she was finally able
to receive the "Prize for Freedom" in the
European Parliament but was obliged to leave Strasbourg
the same day - in accordance with the conditions by which
she had been granted the visa.

Chen Shui-pien commented the course of
events with the following words: "I have been
awarded the Prize for Freedom, however, I am not granted
the freedom to receive this prize."